A multimedia presentation, such as audio provided on CD and a movie provided on DVD, may contain certain language, images, scenes, or other content, not suitable or considered objectionable by certain audiences. To address this concern, certain technologies have been developed to allow filtering, such as skipping or muting, various types of content. This technology allows, for example, the viewing of a movie originally containing more adult-oriented content by younger, less mature viewers. Generally, the filtering function is provided by a media content “filter” resident within the DVD player that specifically applies to a particular multimedia presentation. The filter, which is typically stored within a nonvolatile logic memory of the media player, such as flash memory, indicates which portions of the multimedia presentation are to be skipped, or which audio portions are to be muted, by the DVD player during playback. Typically, whether the filter is employed for a particular presentation of the multimedia may be determined by the user by way of a menu selection system provided by the media player. Further, different forms of objectionable content, such as profane language, sexually explicit content, and so on, may also be selectively filtered by way of the menu system. In some systems, the filtering system may be protected by way of a user-defined password so that those not privy to the password are unable to defeat the filtering mechanism.
Each filter specific to a particular presentation is typically produced at some point after a multimedia presentation has been released. Thus, for example, while some filters for preexisting movies may be pre-installed in the DVD player, the player normally also includes a method of accepting and storing new filters as they are produced. Typically, filters are installed by way of a CD, DVD, or other disc readable by the same memory reader of the DVD player that also reads the DVD or other storage medium having the multimedia presentation. Therefore, a user inserts the disc containing the filters of interest into the tray or slot normally employed for playback. The DVD player, recognizing the disc as one containing filters, installs the filters from the disc, possibly at the guidance of the user by way of the player menu system.
Besides use of multimedia title information and other multimedia presentation attributes, what is needed is a way to accurately associate a particular multimedia's filter set with the multimedia presentation, which may be in conjunction with employment of other attributes.